Tejano monument on Capitol grounds will be reality by mid-2011

The week offered a couple of Texas-sized embarrassments. The State Board of Education showed us why Texas needs to find another, more intelligent way to figure out what gets in textbooks. Given that the board’s decisions have national impact, the rest of the country must be looking at Texas and shaking their heads at the insipid level of debate in Austin.

Then, there was the Republican gubernatorial debate in which two debaters, one currently serving as governor, have supported secession from the union. Que verguenza.

So, in the midst of such odd newsmaking, it was nice to catch up with plans for a $1.1 million Tejano monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol.

The large-scale bronze monument,I which will sit on the southern lawn, will depict 11 symbols of Tejano heritage including a vaquero on horseback, a longhorn and a Tejano couple holding an infant.

Together, they’ll honor the Tejanos’ contribution to the state, long overdue acknowledgment — and a way to correct the one-side view of Texas history long taught to students.

“For years, Texans have groused privately about the lack a Capitol monument honoring the state’s Spanish and Mexican roots,” a story in the Austin American-Statesman said.

Armando Hinojosa of Laredo is sculpting the life-size Tejano monument. He’s pictured above with a model of his Tejano family, in a Billy Calzada photograph.